Yet another artist who seemed to have made a pact with the devil. Joe Bonamassa remains true to his route along the narrow path of the classics with this double tribute album to Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf recorded at the glorious amphitheatre Red Rocks of Colorado. A journey through the two legends profusely edited in all available formats, where lovers of the six strings can enjoy features and extras that demonstrate the deployment of technique and talent of this monster of the guitar that has had the guitar hung from his back almost as long as the day he learnt to walk. At age 12, according to his biography, he was already giving concerts in the New York area and was opening for B.B. King. At 22 he signed his first major record deal. Today his career has surpassed the border of a quarter of a century.

With the permission of the hour and a half of the 'bonus', what matters to us most are the nearly three hours of guitar-madness that inevitably pays homage to another great hero, the crying Stevie Ray Vaughan, and his approach to this feature work: how he remains faithful to the original work without losing its personality. Bonamassa is a specialist in this subject. Great examples are his versions of Tiger in your tank or Spoonful, mythical pieces that he does not hesitate to unleash his fingers and his imagination to give them a new and fresh air.



As fresh as when he attacks the “rock ‘n’ rolls” adding to the fast solos the strength of a superb brass section that keeps the “vintage” tone demanding of the songs. He’s also been able to respect the style of those honoured, both to the "father of modern Chicago blues” as well as the original, including his deep form of singing, perhaps the biggest challenge for Bonamassa. In conclusion, this is a tour amongst the generations that is an essential chapter of the genre; an essay in the literary sense of the word and apart from the show, something our artist also takes great care with.

Any collection from a music legend is debatable in terms of a “fanatical” listener. The selection of Bonamassa boasts an authority status on the subject—so it is hardly disputable—that he sticks to the most famous songs of those honoured, which by themselves cover most of the time available in his performance. One hour for each and extra 30 minutes for his own repertoire, a simple detail because his repertoire is beginning to be truly extensive with almost a dozen albums to his credit.

Bonamassa wanted to reclaim the blues with this disc as a live genre. He proclaimed this in front of the audience that crammed the Red Rocks that weekend in September of 2014: “They pretend to ignore us, but here are 9,000 people who we like the blues”. And they were not all there, of course. We were missing many.